Ram Gopal (dancer)
Ram Gopal | |
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choreographer | |
Honours | OBE |
Bissano Ram Gopal
As a choreographer, he is most known for his productions, Legend of the Taj Mahal, Dance of the Setting Sun and Dances of India.[4] He is also noted for "Radha-Krishna", his collaboration with British[5] ballerina Dame Alicia Markova, in 1960.[6]
Early life and training
Gopal was born in Bangalore, India. He was named Bissano, being born on 20 November (Bees = 20 in Hindi). He had a Burmese mother and a Rajput father who was a barrister.[2][4] They lived in a mansion called Torquay Castle. His grandmother was a well known dancer. Drawn to dance early on in his life, he learned Kathakali from Guru Kunju Kurup and Chandu Panickar. Once he danced at the annual garden party of the Maharaja of Mysore without his father's permission, but the Maharaja persuaded his father to allow him to receive further dance training.[7]
While in this early forties, he discovered Guru Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai of Pandanallur style under whom he started learning Bharatanatyam, followed by Muthukumaran Pillai;[8] he also learned Kathak from Sohanlal and Bowri Prasad and even Manipuri dance, all of which he assimilated into his choreographies in the coming decades.[7]
Career
He was invited to the United States by
He toured extensively as a soloist and with his company both before and after World War II, and soon they were known for their costumes, staging and lighting.
He also danced in the Mumbai school run by the Austrian expressionist dancer Hilde Holger, with whom he remained friends and collaborated with her in their experimental dance style pieces.[11]
In Kay Ambrose's book published in 1950, "Classical Dances and Costumes of India," the book is introduced by Ram Gopal, with foreword by Arnold Haskell containing 53 illustrations from photographs and many drawings by the author. In this introduction is included a letter Ram Gopal wrote to Kay Ambrose from Bangalore, his birthplace in February 1942. The book has many photos and illustrations of Ram Gopal performing these classical dances.
He published Indian Dancing in 1951, and his autobiography Rhythms in the Heavens in 1957;[3] he also opened two dance schools for a short while, first in Bangalore before moving to England and later "Academy of Indian Dance and Music" in London in 1962. In his later years he lived in London, Venice and the South of France.[6]
The French filmmaker Claude Lamorisse made two films about him: "Aum Shiva" and "Ram".[12] Gopal featured in the Indian-born British documentary filmmaker Sarah Erulkar's short Lord Siva Danced (1947).
He received an
Personal life
During the 1960s, while living in Chelsea, London he was briefly married to Edith Alexander, though the marriage ended only a few years later, with her death. The couple had no children.[4]
He died in Norbury Care Home in
Works
- Indian dancing, by Ram Gopal, Serozh Dadachanji. Phoenix House, 1951.
- Ram Gopal: rhythm in the heavens : an autobiography, by Ram Gopal. Secker and Warburg, 1957
References
- ^ His passport gives his year of birth as 1917, but his contemporaries insisted it must have been closer to 1912 – [1]
- ^ a b c d Khan, Naseem (13 October 2003). "Obituary: Ram Gopal: Classical Indian dancer who introduced the west to the ethos and discipline of his homeland's traditional art". The Guardian.
- ^ Indian Express. 16 October 2003.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Obituary: Ram Gopal". The Daily Telegraph. 24 October 2003.
- ASIN B0000CINVF.
- ^ a b c d e Jack Anderson (15 October 2003). "Ram Gopal, Dancer Who Opened Western Eyes to India, Dies". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c Leela Ramanathan (26 October 2003). "Ram Gopal: the legend". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014.
- ^ a b "Ambassador of Indian dance". The Hindu. 24 October 2003. Archived from the original on 10 November 2003.
- ^ ISBN 978-83-64682-22-3.
- Britannica.com.
- ^ "Hilde Holger: Central European Expressionist Dancer". hildeholger.com. 2007. Archived from the original on 14 November 2006. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
- ^ "BFI | Film & TV Database | AUM SHIVA (1970)". Archived from the original on 14 February 2012.
- ISBN 1-55783-651-5
- ^ Ashish Mohan Khokar. "ObiTribute: Ram Gopal (1912–2003)".
- ^ a b "Dancer Ram Gopal's ashes to be scattered in France". Rediff.com News. 23 October 2003.
- ^ "Theatre costume", V&A Museum, retrieved 2 November 2023
External links
- Ram Gopal at IMDb
- "Ram Gopal; Took Indian Dance to a Global Audience". LA Times. 18 October 2003.
- Headdress was worn by Gopal in the Dance of the Setting Sun and Lord of Shiva dances (Image) at V&A Museum